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Mike McCarthy was asked about the Detroit Lions offense under their 3rd string QB Drew Stanton, and he said "the offense hasn't changed a whole lot." That may be true with the general design of the pass and run plays. But the play calling balance has shifted dramatically. Here are some stats from the Lions last four games:
| Versus | Yards/Att. | Pass Att. | Yards/Carry | Run Att. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bears | 7.4 | 24 | 5.0 | 27 |
| Patriots | 6.2 | 46 | 4.8 | 25 |
| Cowboys | 6.1 | 47 | 3.8 | 20 |
| Bills | 6.5 | 50 | 2.9 | 26 |
Arguably the Lions were forced to throw more in their losses to the Bills, Cowboys, and Patriots. But they were in all three of those games until the second half. As I watched the Bears game, it seemed like they were much more likely to call running plays for Stanton then they were for QB Shaun Hill.
I did find it interesting that the Lions running game has gotten better over each of the last four weeks. That's surprising because according to Football Outsiders, the Bears have by far the best run defense of those four teams while the Bills have the worst. Instead the Lions only managed 2.9 ypc against the worst, and 5.0 ypc against the best.